No gloss. No fluffy reviews. Just the truth on YA literature. Join me in my search for that novel worthy of all five stars.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Review: Willow by Julia Hoban (ARC)

Total: All Five Stars (!!!)

{From Back Cover}

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, Willow Randall's parents drank too much wine at dinner and asked her to drive them home. But they never made it - Willow lost control of the car, and both her parents were killed.

Now seventeen, Willow has left behind her old home, friends, and school - numbing the grim reality of her new life by secretly cutting herself. But everything changes when one of Willow's new classmates, a boy as sensitive and thoughtful as she is, discovers Willow's secret and refuses to let her destroy herself. Behind The Grade: I'm not one of those bubbly, bright people who likes to start reviews off with phrases like "I was hooked from the first line," and yet, when faced with Julia Hoban's to-be-released YA debut, this is the only thing that comes to mind.

It was mind-blowing.

While, sure, Willow could technically be defined as a cutter, she's so much more than that. Even though the book is told in third person, the spotlight never strays from our unlucky heroine, Willow. Somehow, Hoban manages to give clear insight into Willow's thoughts and everything she thinks - about herself, her parents' death, those around her - is so well backed-up, I found myself nodding along to her justifications. So: characterization? Spot-on.

Second: plot movement.

This is a love story of the top tier. Willow's relationship with Guy is fresh and interesting - never do they stray into boring couple's territory. Partly because Willow isn't looking for anything romantic - in that sense, she's great for girls to look up to. Today, teenagers are surrounded by books and movies telling them they should fall into a fast, dizzying, love-at-fist-sight love, but Willow takes it slow and, in this, acts like a normal girl would.

Rather than be bored by the lack of car crashes or magic spells, it's so easy to get lost in Willow's world, that I found myself trying to go slowly and savour her every thought. For someone who's typically a speed-reader, this was obviously a great thing for me.

Third: wrap-up. The ending was perfect. I wish I could share the ending line, or even the last chapter, because it was so amazing, but I wouldn't want to spoil you.

Willow will be availible in hardcover on April 2nd. You better be getting it!

Who's That Girl?

She's a teenage girl with a passion for reading, procrastinating, and watching TV. She's neurotic and obsessive compulsive. She would rather watch How I Met Your Mother than Hannah Montana and would rather listen to Kings of Leon than Jonas Brothers. The people she lists as "Heroes," on her outdated MySpace are fictional characters and the "People [She] Would Like to Meet" are authors. She gets her worst marks in English.
Reading is her life, is it yours too?